


Delay

by for_the_love_of_wolves



Series: AoS Advent Fics 2019 [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Airports, F/M, Fear of Flying, First Meetings, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, planes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21709213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/for_the_love_of_wolves/pseuds/for_the_love_of_wolves
Summary: On Christmas eve Jemma's flight is delayed because of a snowstorm. At the airport, she meets Leo Fitz who is waiting for the same flight and who is horribly scared of flying. Jemma talks to him and when they finally get on their plane, she feels like Christmas eve isn't ruined after all. (Prompt: We’re both stuck at the airport for Christmas eve)
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Series: AoS Advent Fics 2019 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559647
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	Delay

Jemma’s stomach drops when she discovers her flight on the display. It’s marked red and an alert tells her there’s going to be a delay of yet unknown extent due to the snowstorm raging outside. Around her, people are groaning and cursing. A man drops his suitcase and walks to a young nervous looking staff member, his eyes narrowed in anger. Jemma feels bad for the worker. It’s not fair to attack staff. The delay is not their fault. After all, they have to make sure everyone’s arriving at their destination safely and they can’t change weather conditions.

She sighs and figures she won’t get the connecting train from the airport in London which means she’s going to arrive way too late for dinner. She takes out her phone and tells her parents the bad news, looking outside, where the dance of snowflakes is so dense the world is a white flickering mess.

Jemma had wished for snow on Christmas eve. But not like this. She should have taken the earlier plane. But now it’s too late. She can only hope the snowstorm will cease soon and the flight won’t be cancelled completely. 

When she finished the call – her parents told her it’s no problem and they are going to have another dinner when she arrives – Jemma walks over to a waiting area. It’s crowded like the rest of the airport, but there’s a place left beside a young man, who is bend over, his hands intertwined in his lap and his head hanging low. He’s tapping one of his feet restlessly.

Jemma frowns at the suitcase the young man has put on the chair beside him. That’s kind of rude since there are so many people here ... “Excuse me. Can you please remove your suitcase?” She asks the man as calmly as she can while already being annoyed with him and everything else.

His head perks up and stares at her, his eyes wide. They are remarkably blue. “Uh,” he makes, blinking. Jemma points at his suitcase and raises an eyebrow.

“Oh! Sorry,” the man murmurs, reaching for his suitcase quickly and pulling it from the chair with a huff, putting it between his legs. “Sorry!” He says again, blushing furiously.

Christ. Jemma doesn’t know if she should feel amused or more annoyed with his strange quirky behaviour. Though, something about it – him – definitely is endearing. “It’s alright,” she says softly, sitting down and pulling her suitcase closer to her. “Thank you.”

The stranger doesn’t say anything. He only grunts and bends over again, running a hand through the messy mop of curls on his head and sighing heavily. He continues tapping his foot and Jemma considers asking him to stop, but that seems rude, so she just tries to ignore it, looking through some pictures on her phone. At some point, there are snoring sounds and Jemma discovers a man opposite them has fallen asleep. His head is tipped back and his mouth is slightly open. The woman beside him looks incredibly annoyed. She’s holding a book in front of her face, but her eyebrows are drawn up so high, they appear over the cover.

Jemma’s lips twitch as she fights a grin. God. The airport really isn’t her favourite place in the world. But sometimes, it’s funny.

The next moment there’s a loud announcement. The sleeping man twitches but doesn’t wake up. The man beside Jemma jumps and looks around, his eyes wide again. He looks scared, Jemma realizes with a sudden hint of worry. Very scared. “Are you alright?” She asks him carefully because, well, she can’t just ignore when someone looks like that.

He swallows and his eyes flick to her. “Oh. Yes. Thank you. I’m fine,” he says in a tight voice that makes Jemma know he’s definitely not fine at all.

“Hm. Which flight are you on?” Jemma asks on, putting her phone away.

After a long moment of hesitation, he names the destination and number with a shaking voice. It’s the same plane as hers. The delayed one. Jemma smiles at him. “I’m on that flight too! I really hope it’s going to be able to start soon. I wanted to spend Christmas eve with my parents. But I guess I shouldn’t have taken the latest possible flight …”

The man listens to her, his face getting even paler than it already is. And suddenly he blurts out,“I’m scared of flying. I’m so scared I couldn’t sleep the whole night. For days, I felt sick whenever I thought a-about the flight. I’m so bloody scared of being trapped in a small space with no chance to get out. At some point I started to think I can do it as long as he weather is fine and there’s no … no turbulences. But now there’s a bloody storm. I just want to go back home in my bed and pull the blanket over my head, but … I also want to visit my mother. I haven’t seen her for ages. I promised her I’m going to make it on Christmas eve.” He shakes his head and his lower lip actually trembles. The next moment, he sighs and looks down at his hands that are playing with each other restlessly, and bites his lip. “I’m sorry. I … I shouldn’t have bothered you with this,” he murmurs barely audible.

Jemma feels a rush of sympathy. “No. You don’t have to apologize. Things are much easier, in my experience, if you talk to someone about them. And … I don’t like flying that much either. I’m not really scared, but I’m also not comfortable. Especially when there are turbulences or I have pressure on my ears.”

The man looks up at her again, a weak smile spreading on his pale face. “Oh. Yeah. Pressure on the ears is horrible.”

Jemma nods. “It’s the worst. But listen … You really don’t need to be scared. A plane can withstand much more than this snowstorm. I know it’s not that easy to tell that to your mind, but flying really is safe. It gets safer with every year! Do you have anything with you that could distract you? A book maybe?”

He shakes his head and sighs. “That doesn’t work. I already tried so much. Book. Music. Even … even a pill once. But that just made me more anxious and I promised myself I will never drug myself again in scary situations.”

Jemma nods. “No. Drugs really aren’t an option. But … Listen. Since we’re flying together, we could ask if we can sit beside each other? I can talk to you, if you want. I’m sure someone will change seats with you, when you tell them you have a bit trouble with flying and need some company!”

“Oh. Do you think so?” He asks and sounds hopeful.

She smiles. “Absolutely. I’m Jemma by the way. Jemma Simmons.” She offers him her hand. He takes it immediately, squeezing it softly. His hand is warm and a bit sweaty, but she doesn’t mind, since she’s completely focused on his very blue eyes and his smile.

“Fitz. Well, James Leopold Fitz. But I prefer just Fitz.”

“Ok Fitz. Are you Scottish?” Jemma asks, curious if she got the accent right.

Fitz nods. “Yeah. I was born in Glasgow but my mother and I moved to England after … Well.” He shrugs and looks away. It seems like he’s holding something back, but she isn’t someone to pry. Especially not, if she has just met someone. Jemma clears her throat. “Well Fitz. It seems like we still have a lot of time ahead of us.” She spends the next hour talking to him about safety of planes.

Time passes fast, and suddenly, there’s another announcement, telling them their plane will be ready to be boarded in a few moments. 

“Finally,” Jemma sighs relieved, reaching for her suitcase. Fitz swallows heavily and pales visibly, but smiles carefully, his fingers tightening around the handle of his own bag as he gets up to follow her to the gate. He walks so slowly, it almost seems like he’s thinking about running away. Jemma turns around and smiles at him reassuringly. “It’s going to be alright,” she tells him. “You’ll see. We’re going to be in England in no time!”  
  


***

Jemma leans back in her seat with a content sigh. She’s glad the journey is finally about to begin. But Fitz beside her is worrying his lip with his teeth, looking straight ahead, his hands gripping his knees so hard, his knuckles turn white. Someone indeed agreed to change seats with him. Nice people do exist, after all.

Jemma looks out the little window to her side, still seeing the snow falling, but much slower and gentler now. The plane starts to move, rolling backwards and onto the runway. “You’re alright?” Jemma asks Fitz. “As alright as I can be,” he says weakly, his eyes still staring ahead. Jemma guesses he doesn’t want to look outside.

The plane rolls faster and faster, the world flying by. Finally, it takes off, swaying a bit. Fitz makes a startled noise and his whole body tenses when he’s pressed back into his seat. This has to be the most scary part, Jemma knows. And she already feels the pressure on her ears. Driven by instinct, she reaches out and puts her hand on Fitz’s. 

He looks down at it surprised. His eyes flicker to her and widen when he catches sight of what’s outside. The lights of the city, looking like a starry night sky under them. “Bloody hell,” he breathes weakly. Jemma smiles at him. “Everything’s alright, Fitz. The worst is already over. Now it’s going to feel like we’re riding the bus.”

Fitz nods tightly. He exhales and looks a tiny bit calmer. He rolls his shoulders and leans back, closing his eyes.

Jemma clears her throat. “So, Fitz. Tell me. What are you doing?”

He smiles. “I’m studying Engineering. And you?”

“Biochemistry.”

“That’s fascinating.”

They’re soon in the middle of a discussion about their studies. Jemma’s hand is still on Fitz. Neither of them moves away. Jemma notices Fitz is sometimes startling when there’s a sudden noise or the plane jiggles a bit because they’re breaching a cloud or something, but he always relaxes again. He’s doing very well, she thinks.

Suddenly, there’s an announcement by the captain, that they are ready to land and the passengers are supposed to put their seatbelts back on.

“What? We’re there already?” Fitz asks stunned.

Jemma chuckles. “Yes. Told you. The start was the worst and everything after is really unspectacular.”

“Wow,” Fitz breathes, looking at her with a relieved open smile. “I did it.”

“You did it. You can be proud of yourself,” Jemma says, returning his smile. She feels warmer looking at him and something inside her tells her she doesn’t want him to be gone just like that, seeing him never again …

The plane sways a bit when it flies a curve in order to be able to land and Fitz inhales sharply, closing his eyes. Jemma makes a surprised noise, when his hand closes around hers, squeezing it. But she squeezes back, her face heating up. No. She definitely doesn’t want him to be gone …

The landing is remarkably soft – the softest Jemma has ever experienced so far – and they are soon able to get up and leave the plane, which Fitz does in a relieved hurry. Jemma follows him, thinking about what to do.

When they reached the warmth of the airport, Fitz looks at her and clears his throat. He’s blushing an adorable pink. “Jemma … Thank you. For talking to me. For … being so nice. It helped a lot.”

“You’re very welcome. I enjoyed our talk. It’s been long since I could talk to someone like this,” Jemma says quietly, her heart pounding.

Fitz starts to play with his hands. “Hm. Uh. Could I … Do you … Would you like to meet again, sometime? I mean … Dinner. With me. Would you …”

“Yes,” Jemma says quickly. “I would enjoy that. A lot.”

“Oh. Good. Great,” Fitz says, beaming at her. He searches around in the pockets of his jacket and pulls out a pencil. “Can I … Can I give you my number? Or … Do you want to give me yours?”

Jemma chuckles. She pulls out her phone. “Just type your number in and I type mine in yours?” She suggests.

Fitz nods, putting his pencil away with a shy chuckle. They type in their numbers and Jemma double-checks hers. She really doesn’t want to mess this up. It feels special.

“Okay,” Fitz says, when they’re done. “So … I’m off then. See you in a while?”

Jemma nods. “Yes. In a while. Merry Christmas Fitz.”

Fitz smiles. “Merry Christmas, Jemma.”

They look at each other for another long moment, before they shake hands and turn around, to go their ways. But when Jemma turns to look at him for one last time before she leaves the hall, she sees him staring back at her and they both smile and laugh.

Jemma wanted snow for Christmas eve. She didn’t want a snowstorm, but in the end, it made her meet her future husband, so she can’t be mad.

**Author's Note:**

> You can still send me prompts for my Fic Advent Calendar! :) Here on [tumblr](https://ready-to-kick-some-ass.tumblr.com/post/189406905407/verobird-christmas-prompts-some-i-made-up)


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